


Historical Accuracy

by e_frye



Series: Blue Muse [4]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Family Drama, Gen, Historical Accuracy, Time Travel, historical events
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-15
Updated: 2013-09-15
Packaged: 2017-12-26 16:07:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/967928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/e_frye/pseuds/e_frye
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There are some events in History which the Williams family would rather look away from. Either because they where there, or because they simply hurt to much.</p>
<p>Another installment in the continuing misadventures of Lee Williams, the Doctor and River's daughter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. One Step

July 21st 1969

 

The soft rapping on the front window made the older couple jump. Rory turned to look at the grandfather clock on the far wall of the living room. He squinted as he attempted to read the time, getting older had taken a toll on his body.  He joints groaned as he turned back to stare at whoever was behind the curtained window. Half an hour more or maybe it was twenty minutes Rory thought, unable to remember which was correct.

 

Amy was standing up slowly, waiting for her son to sweep into the room and answer the door for her, but he remained cowering somewhere within the upper depths of the house. She stood fully and hobbled to the door peering through the peep hole at the young woman on the doorstep.

 

"Mrs. Williams." The young blonde woman called out in a chipper voice. Betsy Harris, now Collins had always lived two houses down from them. She had always been in Lee’s grade at school and the two girls had been casual friends until Junior High, when Betsy discovered boys and Lee discovered rocketry.  Since then Amy and Rory had seen her only in passing, until she married a young man the week after  turning 18 and moved to Staten Island.

 

Amy peered at her a bit longer than usual before opening the door. Betsy’s high waited floral dress had such a flared skirt she looked like a bell as a young boy in dress pants and an unbuttoned polo shirt was held captive by her right hand while her left bounced a bonneted baby up and down on her hip. "It was just on the news, a broadcast from the Apollo mission."  She said breathlessly "My parents for all their years are two stubborn to get a color television, and I was hoping that Johnny... Well you know it's such an event."

 

"Yes, yes come in.” Amy replied as she stood aside allowing the young women and her children to enter.

 

"Goodness you don’t even have the television on." Betsy hummed as she swept into the living room, allowing the small boy out of her grasp as soon as Amy closed the door behind her.

 

Amy smiled slightly as she glared at Rory from behind Betsy's back. He fumbled around the coffee table, playing the part of the doddering old man he was slowly becoming. "Anthony is here." Amy said softly "He was going to turn it on when it was time." She said as a poor excuse for their apparent lack in crucial American history. The fact was, today was a day when the Williams family  would rather look the other way than watch was going to unfold.

 

Betsy smiled at them politely sitting down on an empty chair and smoothing out her dress. Amy smiled back at her; the seeming perfection of the little girl who had once ran down the street sending shivers down her spine.  As much as it worried Amy, the sight of the housewife Betsy Collins seemed to ease her own fears of her own daughter. Yes, Lily was traveling all of time and space unprotected, but at least she was living of her own accord and following her heart. "Is Lily around?" Betsy asked politely, because that was the thing to do.

 

Amy opened her mouth slightly as she thought, but it was Rory who answered first. "She's upstairs."

 

"Really?" Amy inquired quite surprised.

 

"She got in early this morning; apparently she was out west for work." Rory muttered giving Amy a glare which communicated very clearly where and when Lee had come from.

 

"Would you like me to go up and get her?" Betsy said adjusting the infant on her knee.  Just then Anthony walked into the living room. He smiled at Betsy whose face had lit up at the sight of him.

 

He smirked and the tilted his head to the ceiling. "Lily Tabitha Williams get down here, history is about to happen."

 

Feet came crashing down the stairs as Lee in loose fitting trousers and a button down top came running into the room. "Oh come on Anthony, we all know…. Betsy." She exclaimed sweetly as she noticed the childhood friend sitting in the room. Lee calmly walked into the rest of the room, slyly hitting Anthony in the arm as she gave her old friend a one armed hug. Lee sat down on the sofa, twisting her newly auburn hair behind her shoulders as she looked at Betsy with a plastered on smile.

 

"I thought you were a secretary at an ad agency, what were you doing on the west coast?"  Her former friend asked.

 

"Helping with some film commercials, they prefer to do them out there." Lee lied with a smile. "And you, still on Staten Island?"

 

"Yes, but we are considering Jersey." Betsy replied with another sardonic smile.

 

“Why don’t I go get us some drinks.” Lee said turning towards the kitchen door. “Shout if anything happens.” She added with a smile as she quickly walked into the kitchen.

 

The small group sat in the living room, while the television news broadcast droned on. Betsy talking quite animatedly to Anthony while Amy preoccupied Johnny was some no doubt thrilling stories and Rory confined to his chair reading the morning paper. Barely five minutes had past when a scream accompanied by the shattering of glass came from the kitchen. All four adults made a motion to stand up, but it was Anthony who muttered. “I’ll go see what must be troubling Lee.”

 

“Anthony.” Amy called out, wanting very much to finish her sentence but not finding the way to say the right thing in an inconspicuous manner left her mouth hanging open. He nodded at her as he turned and walked briskly away, knowing that it was very likely about to  find one some unexpected in the kitchen.

 

When he opened the door he saw the two women standing at either end of the small kitchen. An outwardly growing puddle of iced tea and glass flowing in between them.  Lee was standing with her back to the kitchen door, her hands visibly shaking. The other woman was standing by the back door a trail of mud from the garden behind her.

 

“Anthony.” River called out, her face illuminating as she saw him. “I’m afraid that I’ve given…” But she looked at the girl standing in front of her blankly. She was unable to recognize her even though she felt the deep yearning towards her.

 

“Lee, my little sister Lee.”  Anthony said flatly, feeling the veins in his neck beginning to bulge with tension.

 

“Lee, I’ve given Lee quite a fright.” River responded, shaking her head gently so that her golden curls bounced up and down. “How are you Lee?” She asked out of simple courtesy  because her face was clearly showing  that River was attempting to remember if she had skipped something major in the Ponds post-TARDIS life. “Look at that, it’s nearly show time.” She added as she gracefully glided past Lee and Anthony into the living room.

 

Lee’s hand was still shaking when Anthony took a hold of it and pulled her into a tight embrace. “I can’t imagine what it must be like.” He whispered as the kitchen door closed behind them.

 

“It’s awful.” Lee sobbed into his shoulder. “But she had every right to be here.” Lee pulled away from him, wiping away at her tears with both hands.

 

“You haven’t run into her much have you?” Anthony said as he took a cloth and began picking up the pieces of glass and tossing them in the trash.

 

“I’ve been avoiding both of them, successfully.” She chuckled. “We need to go back in. Betsy will wonder.”

 

“You going to be alright?” She nodded quickly and the pair walked back into the living room.  River had taken a seat next to Amy and was talking with her quietly as the pair returned. Anthony sat next to River on the sofa, nearest to Betsy while Lee perched on her father’s chair.

 

Lee dug her finger nails into her palm as she tried to steady her breath and calm down. The television seemed to b be louder than usual, as the men on the screen talked about what was going to happen in a matter of moments. Lee wanted to run, to go and be alone. If it had just been her own family in the room she could have. She could have left and no one would have said a think. River would have forgotten ever meeting her the moment she left the room.  But the audience of Betsy and her two children had tied Lee to the arm rest. Tears were beginning to swim in her  eyes as she felt her father grab a tight hold of her quivering hand.

 

"How was Area 51?" Rory asked in a whisper.

 

"Good." She laughed, her face suddenly breaking into a façade of life. "You were certainty very young."

 

"Did I see you back them?" Rory asked his daughter in surprise.

 

"You were unconscious and very unaware of what was to come." She replied playfully as she leaned in towards him.

 

"So are you," Rory whispered as he squeezed her hand noticing the darkness seeping into her expression. "But you’ll be alright in the end, Lee.”

 

"Mommy, mommy look." Johnny was pointing to the television screen where the announcer was beginning to describe what they were about to see, the first broadcasts to earth from outer space, Neil Armstrong stepping on the moon.

 

The mismatched family and the distant neighbor watched as history was made in one short clip, a memorable sound bite, and a subconscious warning against alien attacks . Only for a few of them was it the first time they had seen the event. Amy and Rory looked not at the screen but at their children's faces. Anthony as he smiled softly at finally understanding the event. River’s face was glazed over by forgotten traumas, and the joyful memories of a naive time. And Lee sitting on the arm of a chair, her eyes filling with tears for so many reasons. Yes it was groundbreaking, but for the twenty three year old it was also heart breaking, yet another reminder of the history that had been forged in order to affect the course of her blossoming life.

 

It was gone in a flash, Betsy muttering her thanks and ushering her kids out as the elder Williams memories were filled with what was happening somewhere in Florida at this very moment. Those had been the days, when none of them fully knew the story. When it was still just chasing monsters and running down corridors with little consequences.

  

Lee stood up; the sagging of her shoulders seeming to indicate that she would be gone from the house within the hour.  "I have...something across town I need to do." She scurried up the stairs only to surprisingly return moments latter with a small packed bag in her hands.

 

"Lee." Amy whispered as she watched her daughter grab her coat from the rack. She saw the resolution in her youngest face and stood up knowing that Lee was intending on doing.

 

"Mom I have to." Lee whispered as she buttoned up her coat. "I can't think of any way he could get to her."

 

Amy pulled her in and hugged her tightly. "Six months to the day Park and 34th. Leave her in Gloucester 91" she whispered into her hair. "Thank you so much Lee. Thank you for saving her." She kissed her daughters head,  proud that Lee could ever be so brave.

 

Lee nodded as she turned towards the door, opening it slowly as she stepped out into the afternoon sun. It would be quite a long time until she returned. 


	2. The Impossible Woman

December 21st 1969

 

The memory in her head was a blurry one, as if the very person who had already lived through the experience could hardly remember the traumatic event themselves.  But then Lee had hardy any shared memories of her real mother’s childhood. Those were the years which River had buried away in the deep confines of her own memory. Her first incarnation and the rather terrible life she had lead, no one would want to remember that. But that was all coming to an end now the best days would be ahead of Melody Pond now, or at least she would remember it that way.

 

Lee stood in the alleyway shivering, gathering the extra blanket around her body as she waited. She knew that somewhere in the city Amy and Rory were thinking of her tonight as she stood in the shadows in Korea Town. In a strange way, this really was Lee's task. No one else could to take Melody to the correct time; they all knew the Doctor couldn’t come. As soon as Lee had stated that she was off, that this year it was too dangerous for her to continue on living life the way she had, she knew she would end up in this place. 

 

A small ragged girl with torn clothes and dirty hair stumbled into the alleyway, and was approached by a homeless man. Lee simultaneously watched and remembered the event with tears swimming in her eyes. That was her mother, dying all alone in the very city which her parents now lived. Maybe it had always been her intention to come to New York and have the older Amy and Rory find her and raise her.

Melody Pond, a little girl who needed to be saved and never quite was.

 

The regeneration energy was already beginning to spread around her fingers as death attempted to take his grip on the little girl’s body. Lee watched with unwavering certainty as she spoke her final words, she tilted backwards as the regeneration process took hold. Lee knew what regeneration felt like even though she had never experienced it herself.  She had the memories of both her biological parents’ regenerations rattling around in her head.  It was painful, death was involved of course, but the moment the golden energy took hold, it was elation beyond imagination.

 

Lee watched as the light diminished, as the girl who had once been standing had been replaced by a screaming toddler in oversized clothes. The homeless man ran away at the sight, assuming it was just a delusion. She crept out of the shadows and approached the small child who was crying.  Her whole body was shaking as she neared the child. Lee placed a hand out as a gesture of some sort of welcome. The little girl stopped, her big brown eyes looking at the woman who was approaching her with kindness. Lee knelt down and wrapped the girl in the blanket, clutching her tightly to her chest.

 

For years Melody would remember this, the kind red headed woman who saved her in New York. She would assume it was her mother, the same woman who had held her for a month in the very beginning, who would tell her that she would never be alone. And then one day, River Song would forget her rescue from New York.  It had been such a traumatic day that it would take her years to realize she didn’t quite  remember exactly that it had been her own daughter who had saved her. Amy hadn't lied all those years ago; she never really would be alone in the world. Melody Pond had a guardian angel she could never remember, working behind the shadows.

 

Lee was crying silently as she placed a small dress over the toddlers head. In that moment it was as if the tears were never going to stop, and why should they. Her life was less than perfect. She was standing in a dismal alley rescuing her own mother, a woman who would never remember her. The course either of their lives would take was not a fair one, but Lee knew in this moment she could do little to change it.

 

Lee stood up and placed Melody on her hip as she fiddled with her own vortex manipulator. With a flash and a squeeze they were in Gloucester 1991. It was early morning, the city just springing to life as the sun rose. It would do for now, Lee through as she carried the girl up the steps of the orphanage. She placed her on the steps and kissed the top of her head.

 

"It’s alright Melody," Lee whispered through her sobs as she reached up to ring the bell "You’re almost home now."  Lee turned and ran down the stairs, barely able to see where she was going through the tears streaming down her face.

 

She stopped in the alleyway, it wasn’t fair. None of their lives were fair, and it was all written in stone. Lee balled her hands into tight fists and began to punch at the stone wall over and over again. Each contact making her fingers sting more feverishly until she felt the blood trickle down her hands. She turned her back against the wall, sinking down into a low crouch as she cried into her hands.

 

Riley had gotten the life with parents, the life Melody had never had. It was then when she realized why she had chosen to become River Song. Melody Pond had never existed, not really. She had been a hopeful wish that a young mother once had about her infant. But the real Melody Pond never got the happy childhood, never got to be a true Pond. Just as Riley had never gotten to be who she really was.

 

Riley Donna Song was a name hidden in the stars, a forgotten Time Lord stuck on earth. She wasn’t even Lily Williams anymore. That had been a clever lie to acclimate her to human life.  So who was she, other than the facts? Other than the child of the Doctor and River Song, other the hidden hope for a dead race, or a woman who could never forget a single day. She had no real home.

 

She tapped her vortex manipulator to life, knowing that she could not stay here any longer. She randomly entered coordinates and activated the device. Alone on a foreign grass hill she looked down at the small Scottish city bellow her. The stars were quite possibly the only place she belonged in the entire universe. But she did not have the courage to seek out the one man who could take her there just yet.  Nor was she ready to see what would happen in the distant future of the planet which she loved so dearly. She had chosen to be Lee, and that was all she seemed to know anymore.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm so sorry for not updating for forever, but some unexpected family crises came up over this summer and I did not have much of a heart to write. But the next few stories are almost finished and should be posted on a nearly weekly basis from now on.
> 
> -E.F.


End file.
